Are the estate agents trying to scare me?

csgohan4

if the EA's lips are moving, they are lying

eddddy

missmoose wrote: »

Are they just trying to scare me in to using their broker or will vendors really not consider me as a buyer?

It's all just part of the game of buying property... the EA wants to make themselves as much money as possible.

The EA might try to dissuade the vendor from accepting your offer (especially if they have an offer from somebody else who will be using their services).

Whether the vendor takes notice of their EA depends on how gullible they are.

You can try dissing the EA to the vendor. But the EA might be dissing you as a buyer to the vendor as well.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

To be fair, agents and vendors do deal with a lot of timewasters, so make it clear that you are serious and professional, and already have a solicitor and mortgage agreement sorted via a whole of market broker.

Word of mouth recommendation, or past experience is the best guide for a solicitor, so absolutely stick to your guns with using one you're happy with.

kingstreet

No. They are trying to make as much money as possible out of every sale.

stator

I'm surprised they are letting you see the house without seeing their in house advisor. It's a big company that owns many estate agents in all areas of the country. Their behaviour is dispicable.
I would avoid their services like the plague.
Once you've made an offer, put a note through the vendor's door confirming it. This company have been known to 'lose' or 'forget' about offers they receive if they've also got another offer from someone willing to use their rip off solicitors / brokers.

Surrey_EA

Hearing things like this really !!!! me off.

Believe it or not, there are plenty of EAs who are honourable and straightforward to deal with, and wouldn't dream of conducting themselves like this. But there are far too many who try and get away with this sort of crap, and this reflects against every EA, as some of the comments above confirm.

In my view there is no shortage of regulations and legislation that cover estate agency work, but it is all very poorly enforced, and as such firms like this one know they can get away with it.

For the op, there's not much more to add than the good advice you've already been given. Make sure you use your own solicitor and financial adviser/mortgage broker, be clear with the EA, and don't let them persuade you otherwise. Remember it's the owner who makes the decision who they sell to, not the EA.

kingstreet

I have worked for three small/medium EA chains (all owned/run by old-school Chartered Surveyors) during my long career and I never came across the kind of stuff that is reported on here.

It seems its nearly always the corporates who are to blame with their efforts to screw every last penny out of every possible vendor and purchaser and they will try every little trick they can to achieve their targets.

missmoose

I've told them straight up that it doesn't benefit me in anyway, that even with the incentive its cheaper to go it alone, they said they would remove the broker fees and it would still be more expensive so I basically told them to bore off.

csgohan4

when I bought my house, the EA was pushing their Surveyor and their broker. Surveryor cost double what I paid for the full building survey, their broker, don't get me started on that. Suffice to say Foxtrot oscar

parking_question_chap

We had the same thing. Told them to jog on and we would rather pay the extra £1000 and use somebody competent. Do not use the agents in house company for your legal work, they have a massive vested interest.